Music : A Pacific ‘Messiah’ at Segerstrom Hall

If it’s December, this must be “Messiah”--or so some cynical concert-goers say. Yet one of the things that keeps you going back year after year is that the version of Handel’s masterwork you hear this time will probably be different from the previous one you heard.

So on a Saturday afternoon in Segerstrom Hall, while nearby South Coast Plaza was jammed with Christmas shoppers, John Alexander did some “Messiah” shopping of his own with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra and Pacific Chorale. The version he settled upon was an uneasy compromise between fusty Victorian tradition and some not-too-recent attempts at authenticity.

Alexander used a chamber-sized delegation from the Pacific Symphony and a medium-sized choir, pushing them along at comfortable middle-of-the-road tempos that neither sagged nor raced. A note-complete performance was not a priority, for he slashed away eight numbers in Part Two and another four in Part Three, pruning the latter back to a mere 18 1/2 minutes. Neither was there consistency in observing da capos, since Alexander took the repeat in “He was despised” but not in “The trumpet shall sound.”

The result was a streamlined “Messiah” that passed by fairly quickly and rather uneventfully. For all of its neat execution, this “Messiah” stubbornly refused to soar; exultant choruses like “All we like sheep have gone astray” and “Let us break our bonds asunder” were smoothed over and robbed of their urgency. Even the sure-fire “Hallelujah Chorus” sounded blurred and perfunctory.

There were some top-notch vocal soloists on hand, particularly on the male side, and they coped with varying degrees of success with some often bizarre ornamentation. Tenor Jonathan Mack sailed through his solos with assertive panache, each note clearly shaped and projected. Louis Lebherz’s rich, deep, resonant bass was equally commanding most of the way, despite some slurring of the rapid triplets in “Why do the nations so furiously rage.” Alto Deborah Cree invoked appropriately heated indignation in “He was despised,” and soprano Jennifer Trost delivered her airs sweetly, overcoming a few rocky moments in “Rejoice greatly.”

The clap-happy Costa Mesa audience upheld its notorious reputation in the first 13 minutes of Part One, applauding vigorously after each solo and chorus. And even after Alexander asked them to refrain from doing so until the end of each half, some determined rebels showered the very next solo with applause before falling silent. Sigh.